‘ Harry Styles’ number plate could help fill council’s budget deficit

THEY are often the ultimate celebrity statement which just add the finishing touches to sleek and stylish luxury sports cars.

Ranging in price from a few thousand pounds all the way up to what is believed to be the world’s most expensive number plate: MM, which sold in California for $ 20 million, the right registration and initials can be much sought after.

And now a rare plate has been discovered by East Renfrewshire Council which plans to put it up for auction in a bid to help raise funds to tackle a budget deficit.

It is looking to sell the valuable number plate which would have once been used on council cars which ferried past provosts, including Jim Fletcher and Betty Cunningham, on official business.

The local authority believes that the vital funds could help reduce the expected £ 30m budget gap over the next three years.

The council owns the car registration plate HS 0, which might have been gifted to the authority decades ago even before the era of Eastwood District Council.

It has not been in use since the lease on the council’s car ended in 2022, and has now been identified as a potential way to generate a capital receipt for the council, in the face of an extremely tough financial landscape.

Given the uniqueness of the registration plate, it is thought that its sale could generate a six- figure sum for the council and celebrities with the initials HS could be first in the queue.

From international pop star Harry Styles, Strictly Come Dancing finalist and former Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton, there are a few celebrities who might want to snap it up.